Starbucks Changes Bathroom Policy In Response To Racial Boycotts

Is Starbucks doing enough to strengthen its bond with communities across America?

"We don't want to become a public bathroom, but we're going to make the right decision 100% of the time and give people the key," is the resolution Starbucks head office came to in response to organized boycotts. An incident in April where two individuals were asked to leave and then subsequently arrested for public loitering became a PR nightmare for the coffee magnate. The arrests and the relative inaction by those implicated in the mess, led to massive by Black Lives Matter activists outside of the Philadelphia storefront.

Executive chair Howard Schultz made the policy announcement yesterday at a press conference in Washington, DC. Schultz admitted that his stores do little for the communities "they serve," in many instances at the cost of maintaining a Microeconomy. The caveat is that all policy changes at Starbucks fall under a 90-day review system. If the safety of customer is somehow compromised by the issuance of this order, the policy will thereby be nullified. Therein lies an issues of satisfying different ideas of civic order all at once.

Since the messy incident in Philadelphia, Starbucks PR team has reiterated a desire to welcome all clients "regardless of the color of your skin, your sexual orientation, your ethnic background, your station in life."